Councillors are hoping people across Lichfield and Burntwood will get in the saddle to mark the success of Team GB at the Rio Olympics.
The team won 11 medals, including golds for Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, and a silver for Mark Cavendish.
Now Staffordshire County Council hopes locals will be inspired to use their own pedal power to explore the area.
Cllr Mark Deaville, Cabinet Member for Transport and Highways at Staffordshire County Council, said: “There’s huge passion for cycling here in Staffordshire and with Team GB’s riders enjoying huge success in Rio we are sure to see even more people on their bikes.
“We have invested around £4million in cycling infrastructure improvements in the last year alone, making us a much more connected county, giving people alternative travel options and encouraging people to become more active. We’re also complementing this through a range of training and programmes to introduce people to cycling or give them more confidence to use their bikes regularly.”
The county council has put together an online map outlining key cycle routes across the county. Cycling maps for all districts, which show both traffic free and quieter routes, can be downloaded from www.staffordshire.gov.uk/cycling.
“We have invested around £4million in cycling infrastructure improvements in the last year alone”
instead of maintaining our highways and fixing potholes and other trivial stuff.
I think the investment is welcome. But about ten times as much again needs to be spent on driver awareness training.
The only way you’ll encourage more cyclists to get out is to educate all road users (including cyclists themselves) on how to use the highway safely and have respect for others.
Its a culture change that this country seems incapable of even considering.
Rob, I’m not sure the money spent on cycling infrastructure is at the expense of pothole repairs….I suspect they are two different budgets.
In my opinion the spending on cycle paths is money well spent. Lichfield in particular is great for everyday cycling as it feels very safe to do so. I own a car but never drive into the centre as it’s so handy to nip on a bike and park it right where I want.
I see lots of people doing the same, so there’s clearly a demand for cycling infrastructure..and it’s hopefully helping me avoid too much weight gain!
Ps Jenny you’re spot-on. Both drivers and cyclists need educating, but almost always a wrong move by a motorist will have a far worse outcome than that of a cyclist.